Despite being a bit of a minimalist and not being all that indulgent I have tons of reoccurring subscriptions and app fees. We all do. I can keep a pretty decent handle on what's happening financially with services like Mint and I can track most of my memberships and subscriptions through my password manager but that's not quite enough. I have always found that listing reoccurring payments out in a spreadsheet is super helpful. It allows me to quickly scan the entire set, see the full financial impact, and keep track of important details like how each service is paid for. If you've never tried this it could have a massive impact on your financial awareness. Here's what I track:

Account name

Cost

Billing Rate (Monthly/Annually/Etc)

Method of Payment (Name of account or credit card)

Status (Open/Closed)

You could track other details but I find that this is enough. It can take a bit of work if it's your first go at this. You might have to dig into statements from multiple banks and credit cards to get a full picture (and to identify those services you're still paying for but have forgotten) but it's worth it. You'll likely end up saving some money in the process. And once you've done the full it's a simple matter to add new subscriptions to your spreadsheet as they're acquired.

It's that time of year when many of us reflect on what we've been doing and how we've been doing it. That exercise resulted in a quick search for encrypted notes apps on my end. Trello has been my productivity app of choice but the security model meant that sensitive notes had to be stashed away in a password manager or ProtonMail or Keybase. That's not a great workflow. Luckily, I found Standard Notes quite quickly and it immediately stood out. You could say it was love at first sight. I bought...

As I mentioned in an earlier post I've been doing a very deep dive on where my money is going. Thankfully, I don't have to do this because money is tight. It isn't. However, I would like to hold on to more of it.
I've had a nagging feeling that I was a bit oversubscribed to digital services and boy was I right. I dug through my Google Play, iTunes, Amazon Prime, and other places where second level subscriptions can pile up. I logged every recurring cost that I could find in a Standard Notes se...